August 18, 2010 I’d like to thank those who encouraged, prepared, and assisted me in this campaign and those who cast their votes in support of liberty. I’d also like to thank Representative McOmie for a clean campaign and his willingness to serve in a capacity that so many others avoid. Too often our government has acted or we have asked it to act outside its proper role and we are reaping the consequences. As I have said during my campaign, I will continue my efforts to ensure that government at all levels respects our natural rights. The responsibility for our lives must be returned to the very capable hands of each individual if we wish to return to prosperity. August 16, 2010 My off-the-cuff response to a recent question: "You have not mentioned your views on gun ownership, hunting, fishing, and the great outdoors. How about energy development in Wyoming?" Throughout the past century, it has been conclusively documented that the greatest threat to a person’s life, liberty, and property is government, and usually their own government. The authors of the United States Constitution recognized this and included in Article 1, Section 8 a provision that any funding for an army would be dissolved after two years unless specifically re-evaluated and re-appropriated by congress. In addition, a militia was understood to exist, being armed citizens subject to discipline as prescribed by the government but only called into service “to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions”. The Second Amendment further protected the institution of an armed citizenry by prohibiting infringements on the natural right of the people to bear arms. The Wyoming Constitution expanded on the concept, specifying that the militia consisted of “all able-bodied qualified residents of the state … between the ages of 17 and 70” and that they should be enrolled, equipped, and disciplined “to conform as nearly as practicable to the regulations for the government of the armies of the United States.” If such a plan were followed, invasion of the United States would be unthinkable. However, (setting aside the horrific usurpations of the federal government) the Wyoming legislature relaxed their stance and subsequently passed legislation improperly limiting their duty to only equipping and disciplining a portion of the militia which they would call the “organized militia” (or national guard) and the rest of the “militia” would be unorganized. However, the term militia is defined by Webster’s 1828 dictionary as follows: “The body of soldiers in a state enrolled for discipline, but not engaged in actual service except in emergencies; as distinguished from regular troops, whose sole occupation is war or military service. The militia of a country are the able bodied men organized into companies, regiments and brigades, with officers of all grades, and required by law to attend military exercises on certain days only, but at other times left to pursue their usual occupations.” In other words, the Wyoming Legislature took the militia specified in the Wyoming constitution and declared that part of it would just not be a militia. I cannot imagine what the authors of the two constitutions would have thought about an elite class of citizens with the privilege of superior arms and equipment that are denied to the general populace. It is certainly a recipe for tyranny. Besides defending ourselves from government, we certainly have a right to effectively defend ourselves from other criminals. It is ludicrous to think that even the most oppressive police state could deter crime as effectively as well armed citizens. Even in a prison, solitary confinement is often used because the strict controls of that environment are still not sufficient to protect its unarmed residents. Public lands, with their attendant “hunting, fishing, and the great outdoors” ought to be managed as locally as possible to ensure fair use by the citizens of that area as well as to ensure awareness of and control over the costs of such management by the taxpayer. I feel that there ought to be a better solution than the current government manipulation of the economic development of our resources. If the government selects one industry over another in granting use of the land, it skews the market in favor of that industry and ultimately can destabilize the economy. All uses for the land of the state of Wyoming should have an equal opportunity to exist despite the opinions of legislature and lobbyists. Of course, this includes energy development. Energy industries ought to be given no special favors, and they should equally be given no special penalties. In such an environment, economic development will diversify appropriately, according to the natural conditions of our state and its people. When the government encourages growth in an area that cannot sustain that growth, the taxpayers who have invested in areas of sustainable growth are frequently and unjustly called upon to subsidize the government’s misappropriation of resources. I certainly do not consider my answers to be perfect answers, and therefore welcome the thoughtful debate of the legislature and input from as many as care to give it. I also, therefore, have a tendency to want to diffuse the power of government policy and action throughout the localities in which the action will be taken. This will minimize the bad effects of any wrong decisions by a few localities by allowing surrounding localities with more astute leadership to act as buffers, smoothing the ups and downs that our humanity invites.

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